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Mini Review: The Beaver

Jodie Foster’s third directorial effort is “The Beaver,” starring Mel Gibson.  In his role as the mentally ill Walter Black, Gibson puts forth a very raw performance, which really gets you to sympathize with him.  Foster is also solid as caring his wife, and Anton Yelchin gives credibility to his angry son, but what really makes this movie interesting is its strange parallels to Charlie Sheen’s rise and fall from public approval.

When Walter first dons the beaver puppet, people are supportive of his measure.  They buy into his crazy antics, giving him more and more attention, however once they’ve tired of him, they turn on him.  Even though she did not say this parallel was intentional in my interview with her, Foster makes some interesting statements about how we chew up and spit out celebrities as a society.

My Grade: B+

Evan Crean: Hello! My name is Evan Crean. By day I work for a marketing agency, but by night, I’m a film critic based in Boston, MA. Since 2009, I have written hundreds of movie reviews and celebrity interviews for Starpulse.com. I have also contributed pieces to NewEnglandFilm.com and to The Independent, as a writer and editor. I maintain an active Letterboxd account too. In addition to publishing short form work, I am a co-author of the book Your ’80s Movie Guide to Better Living, which is available on CreateSpace and Amazon. The book is the first in a series of lighthearted self-help books for film fans, which distills advice from ’80s movies on how to tackle many of life’s challenges. On top of writing, I co-host and edit the weekly film podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre with two other Boston film critics. I’m a founding member and the current treasurer for the Boston Online Film Critics Association as well. This site, Reel Recon.com, is a one-stop-shop where you can find links to all of my past and present work. Have any questions or comments after checking it out? Please feel free to email me (Evan Crean) at: ecrean AT reelrecon DOT COM .
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